1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge apparatus in which a platen is arranged at a position facing a nozzle surface of a liquid discharge head, and to a controlling method for controlling the liquid discharge apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional technique, the platen is constructed to be movable and a driving device is attached to a body of the apparatus (casing, etc.); and upon performing the cleaning, the platen is moved by the driving device in a “transporting direction in which the paper or paper sheet is transported (paper-sheet transporting direction)”, thereby retracting or withdrawing the platen from the position facing the nozzle surface. For example, there is proposed a construction in which the platen is divided into two portions, and the two divided portions are retracted or withdrawn to the upstream side and the downstream side, respectively, in the “paper-sheet transporting direction”, or in which the two divided portions of the platen are pivoted or rotated in the “paper-sheet transporting direction”.
According to the conventional technique, the platen can be temporarily retracted or withdrawn from the position facing the nozzle surface, and thus it is possible to avoid a situation that the platen obstructs the nozzle cleaning. However, the platen is divided into two portions, and the two divided portions are retracted to upstream and downstream sides, respectively, of the “paper transporting direction”, which in turn makes it difficult to secure a retracting space for retracting the platen while avoiding interference with other part or component, thereby resulting in a problem such that the “freedom in designing the platen” is considerably limited. In the conventional technique, for example, rollers constructing a transporting device which transports the paper sheet are provided in the upstream and downstream sides of the transporting direction, as seen from the position facing the nozzle surface. Accordingly, in order to prevent the platen from interfering with the rollers, the platen has to be designed to have a narrow width (namely, length in the transporting direction); and thus there is a fear that the function for supporting the paper sheet might be compromised or lowered. Further, in the construction in which the two divided portions of the platen are rotatable or pivotable, it is necessary that the platen is arranged to be sufficiently away from the nozzle surface such that the platen is prevented from contacting with the nozzle surface; and thus there is a fear that the discharge characteristic might be lowered or lost.